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Man Arrested After Son's Tragic Boating Death Is Wealthy Mexican Property Developer

TIBURON (CBS SF/AP) -- An 11-year-old Tiburon boy died, his brother was injured and his father arrested on manslaughter charges in a boating mishap near Angel Island on Sunday, authorities said.

Property records show that the father is a member of one of the richest and most powerful families in Mexico.

Tiburon Police said they arrested 57-year-old Javier Burillo, of Belvedere, Sunday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with a vessel, willful harm or injury to a child and reckless or negligent operation of a vessel charges.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show the full name of the man police identified as Javier Burillo is Javier Burillo Azcarraga. He is a wealthy property developer known for lavish hotels and restaurants in Mexico.

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The 11-year-old was thrown overboard into the San Francisco Bay and struck by the vessel, a 33-foot Protector Targa. Police say Burillo's 27-year-old son was also thrown overboard from a boat in open waters near Angel Island.

Tiburon police said the elder brother was able to help his father recover the 11-year-old from the water. Once they were pulled aboard, they were transported to the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon, where the 11-year-old boy was pronounced dead. Burillo's older son had cuts to his leg and was transported to a hospital.

The family was boating along the Raccoon Strait, a waterway of the San Francisco Bay between Angel Island and the Tiburon Peninsula. They were headed back to the Corinthian Yacht Harbor, where Burillo kept his boat, before the tragic incident.

Tiburon Police Chief Michael Cronin said Monday that the real estate developer is a well-known and liked member of the Tiburon-Belvedere community, but Cronin wouldn't give any other details about him or the incident.

Burillo was being held on $1 million bail in Marin County Jail, but jail records show he was released Monday afternoon.

Scott Robertson saw the ambulances at the harbor Sunday evening and knew there was a problem, but it wasn't until he found out the 11-year-old boy died that he realized the magnitude of the situation.

"It's an unusual and horrific tragedy," he said.

"Nobody wants to see the pain and we are sympathetic, but we had probable cause to make an arrest," said Cronin.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. KPIX 5's Juliette Goodrich and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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